


Smile

by caffeinelemur



Category: One Piece
Genre: Belated Birthday Present, Character Study, Family, Gen, I suppose, I wrote this so many years ago on my old phone, Nakamaship, Sleep, Smiles, Smiling!Zoro, gomen Zoro-san, mentions of the fifth movie, mentions of thriller bark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 17:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2629994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinelemur/pseuds/caffeinelemur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoro likes to sleep. But he's always awake when it counts.</p>
<p>Written a long time ago, but posted for Zoro's birthday. (I was really ill that whole week so it's a bit late, don't hurt me...)</p>
<p>One-Shot</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smile

Zoro likes to sleep.

A lot. 

It’s nothing unusual, nothing strange, just a fact.

Zoro likes to sleep.

 

Sometimes, after a bad storm, where the waves threw the ship and drenched the deck and the rain came down in torrents, and then the sun came out and the crew emerged from the bowels of the ship, they saw him, casually leaning against the rail, hands behind his head, swords safe in his lap, soaking wet, and asleep.

 

Sometimes, Nami and Sanji and Luffy and Chopper and Usopp and Robin and Franky all disembark and go into town and have a wonderful, exciting, dangerous time, and after being chased by whomever Luffy managed to piss off, they would return to see Zoro, leaning against the rail, hands behind his head, swords propped up beside him, exactly as they had left him hours ago, asleep.

 

Because Zoro likes to sleep.

 

They’d seen him do it thousands upon thousands of times, and they knew.

 

Zoro could sleep soundly, and even if Luffy was yelling and Sanji was kicking and Usopp was thowing things at him, he wouldn’t budge. He’d just lay there, asleep.

 

But if danger came and marines were yelling, enemy pirates slashing swords, and daggers were being thrown at his face, Zoro would dodge and slice and awaken easily, no matter how sound a sleep he had been in. He knew, even in the deepest sleep, who was nakama and who wasn’t. He could dodge daggers with his eyes still closed and have the blade stuck an inch from his face without flinching because he was Zoro.

 

Zoro always woke up when his nakama truly needed him.

 

But one thing that never changed was his expression. He always wore the same face, his own personal Zoro-style combination of irritation, indifference, determination, and apathy, with a hint of fond exasperation tinted by _why-did-I-join-this-crew-again_. When he was frowning in sleep, the crew knew he wasn’t in _too_ deep a sleep; he was only napping. The silent man that he was, he always thought about _something_. If his expression was calm and serene and complacent and so _not Zoro_ , the crew knew that was the time to worry. Because Zoro _never_ was completely calm and serene and complacent. He may have been cool and collected and impassive most of the time, but there was always _something_ , some inner turmoil he needed to overcome.

 

The Straw Hats knew that if Zoro ever looked peaceful in sleep, he had either reached his dream, or he was dead.

 

Even when he was in a deep coma, as they discovered at Thriller Bark, he looked passive or grumpy.

 

They knew that when Zoro did smile, truly smile, it was the best thing they’d seen him do, because it completely changed him, his entire demeanor, and they could count the times he really smiled like that on two hands. (It happened the most when they were drinking, they discovered, but that was really no surprise).

 

They figured smiling Zoro was a type of Zoro they would get to see sparingly, and as such, treated the appearance of the smile with inner joy at the rarity of the moment.

 

What they didn’t know was that on every night after his watch, when Zoro returned to his bed, before he wakes up the next person for watch, he looks over his peacefully sleeping nakama and smiles the same warm, caring smile. He then reminds himself to get stronger, to protect their peace and their own smiles, and the determined, focused frown returns, and he wakes up the next on watch and goes to sleep.

 

Because Zoro likes to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I was really ill on Zoro's actual birthday, but here it is, a tad late to the party but here all the same.
> 
> I wrote this years ago on my previous phone and finally charged the old thing, so expect some other gems to pop up soon as well. 
> 
> I really liked that scene from movie 5 where he dodged that bloody flipping dagger/ short sword and was just so nonchalant like daggers get thrown at his face all the bleeding time (which I suppose they must, but still!)
> 
> Happy Birthday, Marimo!! (Shush, It's the same month it's fine)


End file.
